Never imagined Capital Tacos, Parkesdale Farm Market, Coppertail Brewing Co. and PDQ would have something in common? Think again. Each of these food and drink favorites was featured in the young YouTube series Hillsborough County is producing called The Borough.
Hosted by Liana Lopez, chief communications administrator for the county, The Borough (reminiscent of St. Petersburg’s nickname, the ’Burg) aims to highlight local establishments and experiences — and the folks behind them. Its first episode, which focused on Tampa-born chicken chain PDQ, premiered six or so months ago.
“Welcome to The Borough,” Lopez says in the inaugural installment. “It’s a new show dedicated to showing you the people and places that make Hillsborough County a great place to live.”
In addition to covering how the aforementioned businesses came to fruition, what they do, what they serve and other key elements of their stories, The Borough flashes a few fast facts about its interviewees across the screen. Turns out, Parkesdale Market’s Xiomara Meeks is a triathlete, and Josh Luger of Capital Tacos, the restaurant spearheading the newest episode that’s expectedly dreamy (see above), used to do stand-up comedy.
The videos — which, on average, are around 6 to 8 minutes long — end simply, with a straightforward phrase: “Now go out and explore the ’Borough.”
This article appears in Mar 15-22, 2018.